I am a professional Nanny myself, and I take my job very seriously. I have been in this career field for seven years now. Last week on Thursday I was at the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA. I saw a "goth" looking Nanny that I have seen around town before. She has facial piercings and many tattoos on arms and chest. Hair is black with platinum blonde bang area. When I saw the Nanny she was in the Children's Room over by the computers. While browsing through books with "my little guys" I overheard her charge (about 3 yrs old boy blonde hair) tell another woman that he couldn't find his Nanny. She responded loudly with, "oh, isn't THAT your Nanny over there?", loud enough that the Nanny should have heard. She never looked up from her cell phone and never said a word to the boy. After observing her for about 20 minutes I discovered that the little boy had a even littler sister (1 yr old or so, bald headed). The Nanny never spoke to the children or looked at the children as the little boy carried on a very lengthy conversation with a woman nearby. The baby was toddling all over the place, looking in peoples purses and picking up keys. Either of them could've left the children's room or been taken and she would've never even noticed. When I say she never looked up, I mean NEVER. Not once. She just sat next to the puppet show.. texting away. I was horrified, and so were all of the other people who wittnessed her negligence.
Tuesday
Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA
Received Thursday, June 11, 2009
I am a professional Nanny myself, and I take my job very seriously. I have been in this career field for seven years now. Last week on Thursday I was at the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA. I saw a "goth" looking Nanny that I have seen around town before. She has facial piercings and many tattoos on arms and chest. Hair is black with platinum blonde bang area. When I saw the Nanny she was in the Children's Room over by the computers. While browsing through books with "my little guys" I overheard her charge (about 3 yrs old boy blonde hair) tell another woman that he couldn't find his Nanny. She responded loudly with, "oh, isn't THAT your Nanny over there?", loud enough that the Nanny should have heard. She never looked up from her cell phone and never said a word to the boy. After observing her for about 20 minutes I discovered that the little boy had a even littler sister (1 yr old or so, bald headed). The Nanny never spoke to the children or looked at the children as the little boy carried on a very lengthy conversation with a woman nearby. The baby was toddling all over the place, looking in peoples purses and picking up keys. Either of them could've left the children's room or been taken and she would've never even noticed. When I say she never looked up, I mean NEVER. Not once. She just sat next to the puppet show.. texting away. I was horrified, and so were all of the other people who wittnessed her negligence.
I am a professional Nanny myself, and I take my job very seriously. I have been in this career field for seven years now. Last week on Thursday I was at the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA. I saw a "goth" looking Nanny that I have seen around town before. She has facial piercings and many tattoos on arms and chest. Hair is black with platinum blonde bang area. When I saw the Nanny she was in the Children's Room over by the computers. While browsing through books with "my little guys" I overheard her charge (about 3 yrs old boy blonde hair) tell another woman that he couldn't find his Nanny. She responded loudly with, "oh, isn't THAT your Nanny over there?", loud enough that the Nanny should have heard. She never looked up from her cell phone and never said a word to the boy. After observing her for about 20 minutes I discovered that the little boy had a even littler sister (1 yr old or so, bald headed). The Nanny never spoke to the children or looked at the children as the little boy carried on a very lengthy conversation with a woman nearby. The baby was toddling all over the place, looking in peoples purses and picking up keys. Either of them could've left the children's room or been taken and she would've never even noticed. When I say she never looked up, I mean NEVER. Not once. She just sat next to the puppet show.. texting away. I was horrified, and so were all of the other people who wittnessed her negligence.
I think now these "goth" people are now referred to as "Emo", the platinum blond bangs gave it away.
ReplyDeleteShe must be very young.
It is neglectful to allow the children to wander and I am surprised no one told her that cell phones aren't allowed in the library. Even texting is not allowed in my local library. I use the opportunity while I am at the library with the kids to check out books for my self as well, but I don't begin reading them while I am watching the kids! This nanny has a lot to learn.
I think the nanny sounds more like a babysitter.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for Andover, I have family who lives there and Andover is a horrible place full of snobs and walking through the center of town is like living a scene from the movie Village of the Damned. It is downright scary. Andover people think they are better than everyone else and while I will say that I give OP the benefit of the doubt that this nanny/babysitter was ignoring her charge, I still can read between the lines: anyone who is different in Andover is looked down upon. It's just a rich, snobby town. And that's from personal experience.
i have a 1 year old and i can say from experience that he can not be left to his own devices... i'm certain people were probably very peeved with these children being left unattended.
ReplyDeleteAhhh Wicker park Nanny,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was just the prejudice of how the babysitter looked that caused this snobby OP to post.
If nanny had looked more like them, I'm sure the snotty people of Andover would have been perfectly pleased to observe her charges wandering aimlessly all over the library making noise and tearing pages out of books. I live in an upscale area too, and I know the first thing I do when I see a child being neglected, endangered, or allowed to be disruptive or destructive is to look for the caregiver and see if I think she looks pretty. If she meets my exacting standards, I don't mind if her children are kidnapped, harmed or disruptive....as it should be....NOT!!!
Really, anonreg??? Your post sounds a little silly. The children were being neglected! ;(
Mom I agree with your post about the children being neglected. That is just not right: a freeloader getting paid to just vedge out is never ok.
ReplyDeleteBut I too have had experience with Andover and it is a really snobby town. I have friends there and when I visit, I have only encountered uppity people. I know I myself am being prejudiced in saying this: I think we all have our prejudices to some degree. But I do have to say that Andover is indeed a snobby town. I know that living in Andover does not make one a snob. That IS silly. As I said, I have friends there and they are lovely. But from my own personal experience, the majority of people I have met in Andover (and I have met quite a few over the years) are entitled snobs and their kids are spoiled and do not know the value of a dollar. This is reinforced by my friends who actually live there, and they quite agree. They like the city but they are always complaining about most of the people there being snobby and uppity. Not all by any means, just most.
I apologize if I'm offending anyone, and there is NO excuse to neglect children in your care.
Minute Muggle,
ReplyDeleteI understand what you're saying...and I know certain areas have certain reputations (which may be largely earned. I grew up in such an area, so I get it.) However, just as people here don't like when somebody assumes people are all some certain way because they happen to be from the same racial or religious grouping, it is unfair to say that all people who live in a certain area are snobby.
If you want to say a certain area tends toward spoildness and snobbiness, I perfectly agree. But what I disagreed with in the post I responded to was the idea that OP must be a snob to report this siting simply because the nanny HAPPENED to be Goth or Emo, or whatever.
The kids were being neglected and that was what the post was about. OP did not go overboard in a derogatory way about the nanny, she just described her so that she will be recognizable to her employers and her friends so that they will be able to find out about this. I get tired of every time a nanny decscribed here doesn't happen to be white, thin and pretty somebody has to claim the OP is somehow prejudiced. To say that assumes that the OP thinks that being Black, Jewish, Goth, or whatever is somehow a negative thing (as long as the OP has not listed derogatory stereotypes about that group, of course.)Sometimes I think it says more about the accuser than the OP...as if the accuser automatically thinks that saying somebody is Hispanic, for example, is somehow a shameful thing.
I have struggled financially. I have been well off. I have seen the prejudice toward each group and it's truly silly either way. There are some "poor" people with chips on their shoulders against the "rich" just as big as the "entitlement" boulders some rich people proudly lug around. And here's some news I think people may enjoy...those SNOBBY (which is not to say just wealthy, because there are many wonderful, down to earth people with money) folks...even their equally snobby friends see it and don't like them either. I've seen it in action and it's not pretty. People like that never know who their friends really are 'cause they're always in competition trying to outdo each other (either that, or they're hanging onto one another simply for the social connections)...and consequently they don't seem to have any "real" friends. It's sad really.
well said, mom! Your last paragraph really hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you and I can agree to disagree without getting snipey and nasty like some (ahem) people on here.
Peace! xoxo
Well Minute Muggle, Thank you. However, in this instance I don't think we even actually disagree. I just was defending the OP. I don't think her post sounds at all snobby. I don't disagree about Andover (not that I even know about Andover.) I grew up in a place that sounds like that, so I know they exist...but I knew lots of wonderful people there too.
ReplyDeletespammer, MPP!!!!! Get him!
ReplyDeleteMy feet are super itchy. My employer had a lace curtain behind this love seat I was lying on and I picked it up and used it to itch between my toes, using friction, pulling the sheer lace curtain quickly to and fro, to and fro between my toes. I mean, so much so that it hurt so good. But I got a wee bit of blood on the curtains. How to get blood out of lace?
ReplyDeletelmao mst!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Andover and go back to visit often as my parents still live there. Sure it's got it's snobby residents, it's a wealthy town. But, lots of people who live there are pretty normal and the town is fairly liberal. When I was in high school, there were plenty of Goth, alternative types and it was no big deal. Sounds like some of the posters have rich town envy. Village of the Damned? Funny because I live in a totally different part of the country and I think it's more snobby here.
ReplyDeletePeople seem to have a chip on their shoulder about "wealthy areas". Plenty of the people in wealthy areas worked hard to get there and are as far from snobby as you can get.
OP, good post. I passed this on to several of my friends who still live in the area and have small kids.